


Blood on the Jail Floors

by lessonlatrifa



Category: DRAMAtical Murder
Genre: AU, Blood, Character Death, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-02
Updated: 2015-04-07
Packaged: 2018-02-23 20:46:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2555096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lessonlatrifa/pseuds/lessonlatrifa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aoba Seragaki and 13 others are locked in Platinum Jail. The only way they can escape is to kill someone and get away with it. What will become of these unlucky test subjects? (Danganronpa!AU)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue Pt. I: A Strange Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is my first ever multi-chapter fic! I may be a bit slow and update at odd times, but I can assure you that I'll be working hard to complete it! It's an AU and later chapters will be pretty hard to write, so bear with me! In any case, I hope you enjoy it!

Platinum Jail…the most prestigious area in Midorijima. There are only two types of people that can gain access to this utopia: the rich and the exceptionally talented. Every year, Toue Company selects a number of people that have talents or skills relevant to Toue and his research. The research period goes on for about a month. I never thought I would set foot in front of these white doors in my life.

Before I give an explanation, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Aoba Seragaki. I was invited by letter to come to Platinum Jail. Although…I’m not a particularly talented guy. In fact, I’m just about as average as most of the people in Midorijima. I work a job at a junk shop taking calls and making deliveries. People seem to be drawn to my voice but I try not to pay much mind to that. Either way, I’m making an honest living. I listen to my own music pretty often. It’s not the most mainstream stuff but it’s pretty popular. I hang out with my friends whenever I can. There are some nights when I go out drinking with Koujaku and Mizuki, although those nights don’t turn out too well since I can’t really hold my liquor – but that’s beside the point. What I’m trying to say is that I don’t have any outstanding qualities that could have gotten me invited in the first place.

So how did I get this invitation to Platinum Jail, you ask? Well, in addition to the skilled people that Toue Company specifically selects, they also draw a random resident’s name to come in as a ‘Lucky Duck.’ It seems that this year I was the one to receive that title. I know a lot of people would kill to be in my place right now, and I’m pretty happy with where I’m standing right now. Granny told me to be careful and wary of my surroundings, but I don’t think I need to worry too much. After all, it’s probably just some tests and they go on for a month. How bad can that possibly be?

I looked down at the invitation in my hands and then back up to the doors. Just thinking of the high honor placed in front of me shook up my nerves, so I took a deep breath. I patted the bag that was hanging on my arm to check for Ren, my Allmate. I knew that I couldn’t go anywhere without him, so I brought him with me. When I patted the bag, a sense of confidence washed over me. I held my head up high and puffed out my chest a bit, ready to take on this task. I reached out and grabbed the door handles…and then a sudden dizziness overtook me. What’s…going on? The doors seemed to sway and swirl and my world slowly faded to black.

It was then that I realized that I wasn’t a Lucky Duck after all…I was a Cooked Goose.


	2. Prologue Pt. 2: Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoba ends up in an unfamiliar place and tries to find out what's going on. What happens next?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is where you're gonna meet everybody involved. have fun!

I open my eyes and blinked a few times. This certainly isn’t the place I was before. I rub at my eyes and take in the change of scenery. I’m in a retro-styled room filled with warm colors and wooden furniture. There’s a nicely polished table in front of me and a couch over to the side. After shifting around a bit I realize that I’m lying on a different couch. I prop myself up on my elbows and move to sit upright. I take another look around before standing up to observe the rest of my new surroundings. There’s a china cabinet over on the wall with colorful plants sitting on top of it. I turn my head and notice a large staircase in the back of the room. I walk over to it and swiftly make my way up the stairs. The first thing I notice when I get to the second floor is the living room. There’s a large sofa with a table in front of it, a pool table, some darts, a TV, and a bar counter in the back. This is all really nice but…I still don’t know where I am. I’m supposed to be in Platinum Jail right now. A helpful hint would be nice…

Just as I thought that, the TV switched on. The remote control is on the table, and I certainly didn’t turn it on. Okay, now I’m feeling a little wary. The TV showed nothing but static for a few seconds before a silhouette appeared in the middle of it.

“Testing, testing…” A gruff yet refined voice could be heard on the strange program. “Well now, it appears that everything is in order. Welcome to your new home. Please make your way outside to the area in front of Side Entrance 1 of Oval Tower.” The TV then showed an image of an enormous tower and then a large door with the number 1 on it. “I will see you there.” And just like that, the TV switched back off. I don’t know why, but I feel a little uneasy after hearing that announcement… No. This isn’t the time to worry. I smack at my cheeks a couple times and head out the room.

I go back down the stairs to grab my bag…only to realize it’s not in the area where I woke up. This isn’t right. I know I took my bag with me. Where could it possibly be? I search every corner and crevice of the room, but it’s just not here. This isn’t good. Ren and my headache medicine are in that bag. I run back upstairs to check the living room. I look high and low, but still no luck. I start to worry a bit, but then I notice a corridor that has a couple of doors. I make my way down the corridor and try the knob to the first door. Luckily, it opens up.

I walk into a simple but beautifully arranged bedroom. I don’t have the time to take it in, though. I need to find my bag. I look under the bed, in the drawers, and in a closet. I still can’t find it! This is bad. This is really bad. I don’t know where my bag is. Wait…I need to go find this Oval Tower. I feel like that announcement was urgent. I reluctantly exit the room, go down the stairs, and head out the front door.

\-----

When I step outside, I see tons of bright blues and neon signs. There are lots of buildings with colorful letters on them and lively music playing, but oddly enough…there’s no one around. I don’t get it. A vibrant place like this should be bustling with people! I look to my left and see brown buildings that look similar to the one that I came out of. Those must be more residences. I look to my right…and there’s Oval Tower. I knew it had to be pretty big but that thing’s huge! Though…I’m getting the feeling that I’ve seen this scenery before. While I’m lost in thought, my feet start moving on their own toward the tower.

I arrive at the tower and there’s a crowd in front of the door where I was supposed to go. Hey, there are people here after all! I run over to see them, but then I freeze. Most of the people I see are familiar faces. They all turn toward me and someone runs up to me. He’s clad in a red kimono, hair in a loose ponytail, and bangs over his face. I know that man, it’s…

“Aoba!” Koujaku stops in front of me with an excited grin on his features.

“Koujaku!” I can’t help but smile back. It’s so refreshing to see a good friend among such a confusing mess. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing!” Koujaku gives me a playful punch to the arm. “Looks we all got caught up in whatever this is. We’ve been waiting here for a while now.” He gestures over to the crowd near the door. A while…? What on Earth is going on here? Just then, another somewhat familiar voice interrupted my thoughts.

“Hey, Koujaku! Is that Aoba over there? And you didn’t invite me over to say hi?!” A young-looking boy ran over in our direction. He was wearing a yellow shirt with a bright red shawl draped over it, blue jeans, and wooden sandals. Large black beads were dangling from his neck and around his wrists. His hair was bright red and spiked upward.

“Yo, Aoba! I haven’t seen you in a while!” The short boy flashed a huge toothy grin up at me. His voice sounds really familiar… Koujaku walked next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Aoba, this is Beni.” ...Wait, what?

“Beni?! That can’t be right! Last time I checked, Beni’s a bird!” I looked at Koujaku with a confused and skeptical look on my face.

“I know! Well, he _was_ a bird until I came here and saw him like this. I couldn’t find him before I got here. I’m sure you can imagine how shocked I was when I saw this!” This is unbelievable. I don’t understand how this could have possibly happened.

“Say, Aoba,” Beni chirped, “you should go and see the others over there. I know that brat Noiz is there with his Allmate. That other bird is over there too. I swear, whoever invited those guys here is getting a swift kick in the knees! Hyah!” Beni gave the air a front kick to emphasize his point. I look over by the door and, sure enough, I catch sight of Noiz staring this way. He scoffs and turns his head the other way. I frown, already annoyed, and walk over to him.

“Noiz? What brings you here?” Noiz moved his eyes toward me. I felt nothing but an aura of apathy around this kid.

“I have no idea,” he mumbled. “I was supposed to be going to Platinum Jail but for some reason I ended up here.”

“Wait, you too?!” I can’t believe it! Noiz was going there too? He gave me a look of mild interest and bewilderment.

“What do you mean ‘you too’?”

“I mean…that’s the exact same reason why I’m here.” Now it was Noiz’s turn to be surprised. “I got an invitation to Platinum Jail in the mail to come for that research thing. When I came up to the entrance I got dizzy and passed out and now I’m here.” Noiz’s eyes widened and he fully turned his head toward me.

“That happened to you too?” After Noiz expressed his shock, a boy popped up from behind him.

“Pi! Confirmed! This indeed happened to Noiz!” The boy had pale skin, short white hair, and two large front teeth that showed when he opened his mouth. His outfit was similar to Noiz’s – a collared white short-sleeved shirt with two pockets, navy blue shorts, and green shoes – and he wore a green and blue baseball cap. “At least, I think it happened! The time between Noiz stepping up to Platinum Jail’s entrance and when he woke up here is gone from my memory!”

“Gone? But Allmates are supposed to have a really sturdy memory drive, right?”

“Correct! Although right now that is somehow not the case!” Before I could say anything else, Koujaku and Beni moved toward us.

“Now that you mention it,” Beni murmured, “I don’t really remember the time between then and now either!”

“Really?” Koujaku stared over at Beni. “You’ve always had a really good memory, Beni. What happened?”

“I-I don’t know! This is starting to freak me out!”

“So it seems that we’re in a similar situation.” A deep, smooth voice broke through our growing tension. Two sets of feet strolled our way, and we all looked up at the source of the sound. Mink and another man stopped in front of us, dark expressions on both of their faces. It almost looks like they’re related. Mink puts his pipe in his mouth and inhales deeply before blowing some smoke into the air. “Tori and I went through exactly what you just described.”

“And just like the sparrow and the cube over there, I seem to have taken on a human form.” So this is Tori… His voice is lighter than Mink’s but still pretty deep. His skin is tawny and his eyes are a deep hazel. His hair is long and light pink and seems to cascade around his face. There’s a single braid hanging from the right side of his hair, and he has a fuchsia headband covering part of his forehead. “We’re wondering what could have possibly happened in that time frame.”

“It’s just mystery after mystery, huh…” Koujaku said quietly. All our expressions started to turn solemn. I need answers. _We all_ need answers.

“Master! Everyone! Please don’t be sad!” Just then, a familiar voice piped up. We turned over to the source of the voice. White hair, a long white coat, gas mask…

“Clear!” Yup, there’s no mistaking it.

“Everyone looks so sad! Don’t worry! I’m sure that wherever we are is safe and that this is all a big misunderstanding!” Koujaku raised an eyebrow at Clear.

“How big of a misunderstanding does it have to be for us to pass out, wake up somewhere we don’t know and have our Allmates magically turned human?”

“A-Ah well…” Clear stammered. Mink let out a sigh.

“Red’s right. This had to have all been planned. Nothing this complex could have been done by accident.”

“If that’s true,” a different voice chimed in, “then who’s the unfortunate bastard that did it?” The man came up and flashed a confident smile, pounding his fist into the palm of his other hand. “I say unfortunate because now they’re gonna have to deal with me!”

“Mizuki!” I smiled and went over to him. Koujaku followed behind me, going up and patting Mizuki on the back.

“Aoba, Koujaku! What brings you guys here?”

“Well, I’m assuming we’re all in the same boat here,” I said, smile turning bittersweet. “We’re supposed to be in Platinum Jail but someone managed to bring us here.”

“My my, this is quite a situation, isn’t it?”

“Quite a situation indeed…” Two more voices piped up in the gloomy atmosphere. I know those voices. They can only be…

“Virus? Trip? You guys are here too?” Sure enough, the yakuza duo stepped forward. Two unfamiliar men came up as well, one standing on Virus’s right and one on Trip’s left.

“Yes, we’re here for the exact same reason that you guys are,” Virus said calmly. “Our Allmates have transformed as well. Hersha is standing next to me and Berta is next to Trip.” He gestured to the two men respectively. Hersha and Berta gave sly grins at us and waved. Their skin was dark brown and they both had blue-black hair and piercing cobalt blue eyes. They both wore white suits with black ties and black dress shoes. Hersha was slightly shorter than Virus, his hair perfectly straight and curtaining over his shoulders. His eyes were narrow and elongated just like a snake’s eyes, and he wore thin wire glasses over them. Berta, on the other hand, took on a larger form. He was slightly taller than Trip and fairly muscular. Unlike Hersha, his hair was a bit curly and wild around his face, almost like a lion’s mane. His eyes were large and round, and the tips of his canine teeth peeked through his lips. This is all fine and dandy, all these Allmate transformations, but more importantly…

“Where’s Ren?” I took a look around once, twice, just to see if I could find a hint of dark blue. “Everyone else’s Allmates came here, but I don’t see Ren.” Tori took a glance behind me and then moved his eyes back to me.

“Would that be him walking this way?” He pointed past my shoulder and I turned my head around. Sure enough, a figure with dark blue hair was walking toward us.

“Ren!” The figure stopped for a moment before it started jogging over to me. I broke into a jog myself and ran over to it with my arms wide open. We met halfway and I gave the man a tight hug.

“Aoba!” I looked up to Ren and smiled. He looked just like he would in Rhyme: spiky hair, bright hazel eyes, a muscular build, the collar I gave him around his neck. The only difference was that he didn’t have that large hole in his neck. “I was worried about you, Aoba. Are you alright?”

“Forget about me! I was looking all over for you before I got here! I’m just glad you’re safe. Come on.” I walked Ren over to the rest of the group by the tower door. Noiz was the first to speak up.

“Well if the family reunion is over now, we should probably start figuring out why we’re here.”

“Worry not, everyone! It appears that everyone has arrived. Now…let the ceremony begin!” The same voice that was on the TV was booming at us. We all turned around and the door slid open. A cloud of white smoke obscured the figure stepping out toward us. The smoke cleared, and a man in a plaid suit with a monocle and cane appeared.

“Welcome, my test subjects, to Platinum Jail!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the intros were a bit rushed, so i apologize for that. there's just one more part of the prologue after this. thanks for reading so far!


	3. Prologue Pt. 3: Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang discovers just what kind of situation they've managed to find themselves in. How will they take this in?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally, an update! sorry for the wait!

_“Worry not, everyone! It appears that everyone has arrived. Now…let the ceremony begin!” The same voice that was on the TV was booming at us. We all turned around and the door slid open. A cloud of white smoke obscured the figure stepping out toward us. The smoke cleared, and a man in a plaid suit with a monocle and cane appeared._

_“Welcome, my test subjects, to Platinum Jail!”_

\-----

Everyone made a noise of disbelief and looked around. This is Platinum Jail?

“My name is Toue. I am the owner of this utopia that you will be staying in.” Toue?!

“Hold on a minute,” Mizuki interrupted, “you’re telling me this is where we’re supposed to be?”

“Correct. This is Platinum Jail, the kingdom of my design. I’ve chosen you all as part of my annual testing, as you may be aware. However, this session is far different from any of the ones I’ve done before.” I heard someone snort behind me.

“Well you’re certainly not wrong, Mr. Toue.” It was Hersha. He was grinning as he scoffed at Toue’s words. “I mean…our owners _did_ pass out at the gates and the Allmates _did_ magically gain human forms.” He took a look down at his pointed fingernails. “I would say this is _very_ different than what one would expect.”

“That is true, from what I heard of your conversations. While that may be the case, I was referring to something else.” Toue began to stroll over to his right. “You see, my studies are all in the field of neurosciences. I study the brain and human behaviors. Usually I’ll do brain scans and motor skill tests during this session, but this time it’s different. I wanted to use you all as test subjects for a new experiment that I came up with before I sent out your invitations.” That can’t be good.

“Wait a moment.” Koujaku stepped forward with an uneasy look on his face. “From what I’ve heard, this Platinum Jail is usually bustling with fancy rich people. Ever since I came here I haven’t seen one person walking around other than us. What’s going on here?” A smile tugged at Toue’s lips.

“Well, what you described is usually true, but this is all part of the new testing I have in place for you all. The citizens of Platinum Jail had to be… _moved out_ for this experiment.”

“What kind of experiment are you doing if people need to be moved out for it?”

“I’m glad you asked.” Toue walked back over to the front of the door and took a look at everyone before speaking up again. “This will be my most important experiment to date. I have decided to test how humans behave in extreme situations. There won’t be enough data or observations that I’ll need to further my research in just a one-month period. That’s why, after careful consideration, I have chosen to extend the time that you all will be staying here.”

“Hold on,” a low voice grumbled. Berta was looking at Toue with a scowl on his face. “If we’re all being subjected to a completely new type of testing and the testing period is longer than we expected, wouldn’t it make sense to notify us via the invitation you sent to us?”

“Yeah,” Mizuki chimed in. “Some of us might have people we need to get back to, you know. How are we supposed to let ‘em know we’re gonna be here longer than a month?”

“You don’t need to worry about that,” Toue said happily. “In fact, consider cutting ties with anyone you knew before you came here. You see, the time period I chose for this experiment is…indefinite.” Everyone drew in a short, surprised breath.

“Wait…indefinite?” Beni piped up. “You mean like…forever?”

“Correct! In order to get the data that I need, I have chosen to keep you all here for the rest of your natural lives.”

“Wait a- there’s no way in hell you’re keeping us in here forever!” Koujaku stomped over to Toue, unsheathing his sword in the process.

“Wait, Koujaku!” I tried to call Koujaku over, but he was lost in his anger. He pointed his sword at Toue’s face and glared.

“I would suggest you rethink how long we’re staying here, because it sure as hell isn’t gonna be forever.” Toue looked down at Koujaku’s sword and chuckled.

“And _I_ would suggest you lower your sword and calmly keep your distance.” Koujaku raised an eyebrow.

“And what’s gonna happen if I don’t?” Just as Koujaku finished his question, the door behind Toue opened up. A group of men clad in white uniforms stood in a line and pointed large rifles at Koujaku. Koujaku’s eyes widened and he lowered his sword before stumbling backward.

“I have a set of rules in place, and bringing harm to me is one of them. Now, if I may continue…” The men behind Toue lowered their guns, and Koujaku clicked his tongue in anger. “While we’re on the subject of rules, there is one special rule I have in place for you all. The indefinite testing period is only part of how I plan to bring out your thoughts and actions in an extreme situation. The rest of it deals with a little rule I like to call ‘Jailbreak.’ I’m sure you all would do anything to leave Platinum Jail right about now. That’s why I decided to give you all a rule that gives you the option to leave.” A few of us breathed a sigh of relief. “However, Jailbreak is only effective on one condition.”

“I figured this wasn’t going to be easy,” Tori muttered. “What’s your condition?”

“Well, the only way Jailbreak will work…is if you murder one of your colleagues.” Everyone was in shock. No way…this can’t be happening. My heart is pounding, my world is spinning…I stumble backwards and trip over my own feet.

“Aoba!” Before I manage to fall, a pair of arms caught me under my shoulders. I look up and see ‘Ren looking down at me with a worried expression on his features. “Aoba, are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Ren’s look of worry didn’t fade until he looked up at Toue and snarled.

“I won’t allow you to get away with this, Toue!” Ren barked with all the viciousness he could muster. Ren’s never acted like this before… I’m a little nervous. Ren pulled me back up and onto my feet. “I won’t let you lay a hand on Aoba or anyone else here!”

“Relax, relax. _I_ won’t be laying any hands on anybody, but the people around you might do otherwise.” He gestured to everybody in one fluid motion of his hand. Ren growled and looked around him defensively.

“Hold on,” Noiz said surprisingly calmly. “Isn’t Platinum Jail a place for rich people? You probably have a lot of money. Shouldn’t there be other ways to test out this ‘extreme situations’ thing? Like, I don’t know, a simulator or something? I’m sure you can come up with an invention or two to take care of that.”

“Very true, Noiz. However, running tests like that has gotten a little old. I need new ways of testing, and I’m glad to say that you all will carry this out for me. Who knows, maybe I’ll use these types of methods on other people in the future.” I can’t believe it.

“You… You can’t do that!” I shouted, feeling more angry than scared at this point. “You can’t just do this to innocent people! Somebody has to know about this!” I look down at my wrist and, just as I had hoped, my Coil is still there. I held it up to Toue. “I still have my Coil. What if I were to contact someone outside of Platinum Jail about this?”

“That’s a useless thought. When you’re in Platinum Jail, you can’t contact anyone outside of it. This was something I did far before today, so don’t think I’m doing this to pit against you.” I stood dumbfounded, slowly lowering my wrist in defeat. “As I said before, consider cutting your ties with anyone you ever knew outside of Platinum Jail. Unless somebody utilizes the Jailbreak rule, I mean it when I say you’re going to be staying here forever.” Everybody started muttering among themselves.

“Well, the opening ceremony is now complete. Everyone, please look at your Coils. I have installed a program on them that has a set of rules that you should follow while you’re here. Failure to follow these rules could result in…severe punishment.” Toue glanced over at Koujaku, and Koujaku muttered a ‘shut up’ and glared at him. “With that being said, I will leave you all to your new home. Feel free to explore as you please.” And with that, Toue turned around and strolled back into the tower. The door shut behind him, and we all stood in silence.

“Hey…” Clear was the first to speak up after a while. “No one here is actually planning to listen to Toue, right?” Everyone looked around at each other. “C-Come on, everyone! You wouldn’t really kill someone to get out of here…right?”

“Y-Yeah!” Mizuki chimed in. “That’s ridiculous! There’s no way I’d kill someone! I doubt anyone here would, either.”

“You can’t be so sure of that.” Mink responded quickly. “Who knows? Someone could be plotting a murder at this very second. Assuming that everyone thinks the same way as you is just as absurd as the rule placed before us.”

“Hey, hold on you bastard,” Koujaku butted in, “are you saying you’re planning on killing someone here?”

“That’s not what I said. I’m giving you all a fair warning. Unless you can read minds, don’t plan on trusting anyone here.” With Mink’s words ringing in our heads, we looked around at each other yet again. An air of uneasiness came over all of us. What if he’s right? What if someone is planning to kill one of us right now? I don’t know for sure what’s gonna happen, but I do know that this is going to be a very brutal testing session.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> boy oh boy, this is gonna get interesting! if you guys have any bets on who's gonna kill or be killed, do feel free to leave a comment at any point in the story. see you next update!


	4. Ch. 1 Pt. 1: What Now?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone knows just what they're in for during their lives in Platinum Jail. What will they do next?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so so sorry i haven't updated this in such a long time! i've had a lot of work to do and less time to work on this due to school. luckily i have a break coming up next week so i should have more time to work on this then! thanks so much for your patience and enjoy!

_With Mink’s words ringing in our heads, we looked around at each other yet again. An air of uneasiness came over all of us. What if he’s right? What if someone is planning to kill one of us right now? I don’t know for sure what’s gonna happen, but I do know that this is going to be a very brutal testing session._

\-----

We looked around at each other in silence for what seemed like forever. I stood there thinking, fearing, wondering if what Mink said was true. I don’t want to die in this place. I don’t want to die here. I don’t-

“So,” a voice cut into my thoughts. After such a long period of silence, Ren was the first to speak up. “What do you all think we should do now? We understand our situation, so what are we going to do about it?”

“W-Well that’s obvious isn’t it?!” Beni cried. “We gotta find a way out of here fast! I don’t wanna die!”

“Yeah, Beni’s right,” Koujaku said. “I’m sure as hell not staying here, and I think the rest of us should pitch in and find a way to escape. If we don’t…”

“On the contrary,” Hersha interrupted, “I say we should follow Toue’s first suggestion and live out the rest of our lives here.”

“Huh? Are you out of your mind, snake eyes?” Koujaku looked at Hersha in disbelief. “Did you fry your circuits before you turned human or something?” He tapped one of his temples with his finger to emphasize his question. Hersha chuckled and pushed up his glasses.

“Dear Koujaku, think about the situation we’re in. We can’t come in contact with the outside world and Toue wants us to stay here, so we may as well get used to this lifestyle, right?”

“Your logic is as screwed up as your head, did you know that?”

“I agree with Koujaku-san!” Clear piped up. “W-Well, not about the ‘screwed up’ thing. I think it would be the best to find a way to leave before things get dangerous. If Mink-san is correct, someone could plot against us all and…and… I don’t want to think of that possibility!”

“Well then,” Hersha said with a grin, “if you believe finding an escape route is your safest bet, then by all means, please attempt to do so. However, before you go on exploring this place carelessly, I would advise checking the rules. Toue made it clear that rules won’t be broken here, and you wouldn’t want to be full of holes before you manage to get out of here.” He glanced over at Koujaku, to which Koujaku promptly flipped Hersha off. That’s right… Toue did mention that he put a set of rules on our Coils. I turned to Koujaku with a serious look on my face.

“Koujaku, while I don’t agree with Hersha saying we should stay here, he is right about looking at the rules. In fact, I think we should all take a look. Who knows if Toue has something put up in place that we wouldn’t know about unless he made it a rule?” Koujaku frowned and furrowed his brows, but eventually he sighed and nodded. And with that, we all looked down at our Coils and switched them on.

Just like Toue said, a new program was installed on my Coil. An icon that resembled Oval Tower was there at the top right corner of the screen with the words ‘PLATINUM JAIL RULES’ underneath it. I tapped at the icon, and the screen switched to an image that resembled my invitation but had different words on it. This must be it. I scanned through the rules carefully.

**1\. The test subjects will live together for the remainder of their lives within Platinum Jail.  
2\. The time between 12am and 8 am is known as ‘Night Time.’ During Night Time, there are places that you are forbidden to enter, so be cautious.  
3\. Sleeping is only permitted in the personal rooms prepared in the lodging area. Purposefully sleeping anywhere else will result in punishment.  
4\. You may investigate Platinum Jail as you please. There are no restrictions on your actions.  
5\. Violence is not permitted against the leader of Platinum Jail, Toue. Any cameras you find are for surveillance purposes and are not to be purposefully damaged or destroyed.  
6\. A ‘culprit’ who kills a fellow subject will be permitted to leave Platinum Jail. However, they must not let anyone else know that they are the culprit.  
7\. Additional rules may be added at any time.  
**

I looked up from my Coil feeling sick. Everyone else had the same gloomy expression on their face that I had. This is insane.

“So this guy actually plans on keeping us in here for real…” Mizuki mumbled to himself. Maybe it’s just me, but he looks a bit paler than he did.

“Just like I said before,” Hersha said in a sing-song voice, “you all should probably get used to staying here. These rules prove my point. Toue wants us to stay here, so that’s what we’ll do. Though, I would suggest adapting to your surroundings. We’re in a tight, stressful situation, and someone here might be feeling a little…animalistic, if you will. Treat this place like the wild: those who don’t adapt won’t survive.”

“You know, snake eyes,” Koujaku growled, walking up to Hersha and reaching for his sword, “you’re really starting to irritate me right now.” Clear ran up to them and pushed Koujaku back with one hand, placing his other hand on Hersha’s chest and keeping the duo at arms’ length.

“Please wait! Fighting is not something we need to do right now! We need to be rational!” Hersha scoffed.

“Hmph. I wasn’t planning on fighting with that hot-headed sword-happy brute anyway.”

“You wanna say that again, punk?!” Koujaku looked ready to snap.

“That’s enough!” Clear pushed at both of their chests roughly, causing them both to stumble backwards a bit. “You two are not being reasonable. This kind of fighting is exactly what Toue would want, isn’t it? Please try to remain calm for now.”

“Instead of resorting to needless violence,” Tori pitched in, “I believe a compromise would be in order. Perhaps we should start exploring Platinum Jail. This would cover Hersha’s plan to adapt and at the same time we can use this as a way to find a possible escape route.”

“That’s true…” Koujaku said, placing a finger on his chin. “Fair enough. You’ve got a lot more sense in you than snake eyes over here.” He gestured over to Hersha, and Hersha merely rolled his eyes.

“So have we come to a sound agreement?”

“I suppose so.”

“Then we should get started as soon as possible.”

“Pi!” Noiz’s Allmate was raising his hand high in the air and waving it frantically. Tori looked over to him and raised an eyebrow.

“Is there something you want to say, um…” Tori paused. “I don’t think we’ve established your name if you have one.”

“Usagimodoki! It’s a bit long, so you can call me Usa! I have a suggestion! For the sake of safety, we should split into groups while investigating! Then we can meet back here and discuss what we found!”

“If you want to split into groups, then go right ahead. I, however, will be investigating on my own.” Tori turned and started to walk away.

“Hey!” Beni shouted. “Where do you think you’re going, pinky? You gonna go alone and then sneak up on someone and kill them?” Tori stopped and looked at Beni with a tired expression on his face.

“If you’re going to be in groups then you shouldn’t have to worry about surprise attacks, right? You’ll have people with you to protect you.” Beni scowled and looked away. “If there are no more interruptions, you all should get started. Let’s meet back here in one hour to talk about our findings.” Once again, Tori stepped away from us, but this time no one stopped him.

“I’ll be going on my own as well,” Mink said flatly, walking in the opposite direction from Tori. The rest of us stood quietly for a moment.

“Aoba-san.” A voice from behind called me. I turned around to see Virus, Trip, Hersha and Berta standing in a group behind me. “Would you like to join us for the investigation?”

“Ah, sure.” I walked over to them and then looked around. Koujaku was staring my way with a look on his face that said ‘I don’t trust those guys with you.’ Eventually he looked away from me and over to Mizuki.

“Then, Mizuki, what do you say we group up, huh? We can bring Beni with us!” Mizuki smiled.

“Sounds like a plan to me!” Mizuki walked over to Koujaku and Beni, and Ren started to step toward them too.

“Would it be alright if I joined you all?”

“Of course!” Koujaku flashed a huge smile at Ren. “I’m sure Beni could use some more company since he’s being a scaredy bird right now. Isn’t that right, Beni?” He patted Beni on the back and Beni glared up at Koujaku.

“Hey, shut up! Don’t look down on me!” Koujaku and Mizuki laughed, and Ren couldn’t help but crack a small smile. Koujaku started to walk off and the rest of the group followed after him. I looked over to Noiz and he looked down at Usa.

“Come on. We’re going now.” Noiz walked away with Usa following behind him. Clear made a worried noise and ran over to catch up with Noiz.

“Wait, Noiz-san! I want to join you! Please don’t leave me alone!” Looks like that just leaves my group to get started, huh…

“So, Aoba,” Berta said to me, “should we get going? It looks like it’s just us left.”

“Oh, yeah, let’s go.” With that, I started walking and my group followed right behind me.

\-----  
We walked for a while, looking around at our new surroundings. Trip pointed out a dark blue building that appeared to have a large table on the inside. The sign above the door simply read ‘DINING.’ We went inside and found that the table was bigger than it looked on the outside.

“This table could probably seat all of us,” I noted.

“One, two, three, four…five…” Hersha pointed at the chairs while he counted. “You’re right. There are fourteen chairs here. This table alone could seat everyone that’s here.”

“There are also smaller tables here,” Berta noted. “Probably for those lone wolves who decided to go off on their own.” I walked over to large table and looked around it.

“So there are tables here, but how do you get the food? Is there some sort of automatic service or something?” Trip walked over to a door, opened it, and looked inside.

“I think the answer to your question is in here.” We all walked over to Trip and went inside the room.

The first thing that caught my eye was a huge refrigerator. I went over and opened it. There’s tons of stuff in here! Eggs, fish, chicken, bread, jam, beef, juices, water… All the shelves in here are filled up with different foods. I closed the refrigerator and looked around to see huge crates full of colorful fruits and vegetables lined up on the walls. There’s a counter next to the fridge with an oven and stove right in the middle of it. On the other side is another counter with a microwave plugged in. Above it is a large cabinet. I opened it and found a bunch of different spices and dry food like beans and rice. This is amazing! I’ve never seen so much food in one place before. I’m starting to feel hungry…

“So it seems that we have to prepare our own meals while we’re here,” Virus said simply. “I have never really learned how to cook so this may be a bit of a setback.”

“Well,” I chimed in, pride swelling up in my chest, “Granny has been teaching me how to cook, so I can fix up a few meals if you need me to.” Virus chuckled.

“That’s awfully kind of you, Aoba-san. Perhaps you could teach me a few things while we’re here.” I smiled and nodded. “We can save that for later. Right now we should continue exploring so we have more things to report later.”

“That’s right. Well, come on. I’ll lead the way again.” I started walking out of the room but not before I grabbed an apple to eat on the way to our next stop. We went out the room and passed the tables before making our way back outside. I stopped and looked around for a bit, and then I decided to turn left and walk that way.

\-----  
We passed a lot of buildings, both big and small, and this time Berta pointed out something that piqued his interest. He pointed to a light blue building that had no sign, and its door was wide open. I felt a little uneasy looking at it but then I remembered that I’m not going in alone. I walked over to the doorway and took a peek inside. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, so I stepped inside.

It turns out that the building is just a bar. The walls are a deep, dark red, and there’s a huge counter with stools across from where we were standing. Behind the counter is a bunch of different flat screen televisions on the wall showing different types of sports and a huge shelf full of bottles and cans of alcoholic drinks. There were tables scattered around the room as well.

“A sports bar, huh…” Doesn’t seem too sinister to me.

“Aww, this is no fun,” Berta whined. “I thought the open door meant there was gonna be something dangerous like torture devices or weapons. Some severed heads would have been cool too.” I choked and whipped my head around to look at Berta with a shocked look on my face.

“What the hell are you saying?!” Trip placed a finger on his chin.

“Hmm…that would have been interesting.” What the hell?!

“Do you two have any idea what you’re saying right now? This isn’t the time or place to be wishing that sort of thing!” Berta laughed and held up his hands defensively.

“Relax, relax, I was only joking.” What kind of a joke is that?! I opened my mouth, ready to say something else, but I realized it would be useless at this point to start an argument. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration.

“At any rate, we should start heading back to the tower. I think our hour’s close to being up.” Without even pausing to look for approval, I turn and walk toward the door.

“You know, I think Aoba might be a little mad at me right now.”

“You think?” Hersha retorted, sounding a bit annoyed. I heard footsteps following mine as I walked back outside. I turned and went in the direction of Oval Tower.

\-----  
After walking for about ten minutes or so, I finally managed to catch sight of our meet-up place and, sure enough, everybody else was there waiting for us. Mizuki waved and called out to me.

“Yo, Aoba! We were wondering when you’d show up!”

“Haha, sorry. I guess I lost track of the time.” I stepped forward and looked around. Yup, looks like everyone is here. “So it’s time to start our discussion, right?”

“Yeah,” Ren confirmed. “Hopefully everyone has made good progress within the time span. Let’s start with Tori since he was one of the people who went off alone.” Tori nodded.

“I went around searching for clues on how we were brought here. Unfortunately, I was unable to find anything of value. That’s all.”

“That’s…everything you have to say?” Ren tilted his head a little bit.

“If I had anything else to say I would have said it.”

“That’s true. Then, Mink, do you mind sharing next?”

“I found what might be the entrance to Platinum Jail.” A lot of us gasped, and Beni ran excitedly up to Mink and grabbed his shirt.

“You found it?! Really?! Why didn’t you tell us sooner?! Where is it?!” Mink glowered down at Beni, and Beni nervously let go of his shirt and stepped away. Mink sighed before continuing.

“Although I did find the entrance, it was heavily barred off. Considering I’ve been imprisoned before, I did try to bend one of the bars. However, I heard a shrill noise coming from my left and right sides. I only had a split second to step away from the bars before I heard and saw rapid firing aimed at where I was standing. I looked up to see Gatling guns attached to the walls next to the door. Tch, ‘no restrictions’ my ass.” Whoa, what the hell?!

“Gatling guns?!” Koujaku exclaimed. “Are you serious?! You’re not hurt, are you?”

“Fortunately I’m not. I would use my experience to serve as a warning for the rest of you. Toue might have some more underhanded tricks up his sleeve.” This is insane…

“Well it’s good to see that you’re alive right now,” Ren said calmly. “At any rate, let’s continue. My group has found some information regarding where we woke up.”

“It turns out those fancy rooms we ended up in were actually our own private little houses,” Koujaku pitched in. “The lock to each one can only be unlocked by using that person’s Coil. Mizuki tried to unlock Ren’s house with his Coil but the screen gave him an error sign.”

“As far as we can tell,” Mizuki added, “all the houses look the same on the inside and outside. Pretty boring if you asked me.”

“There were signs on the bathroom doors too!” Beni chirped. “It said that the bathrooms in the first seven rooms weren't lockable and the other seven were. How crazy is that? What does Toue even get out of that?” That’s…oddly specific. “Also, the sign said that the water shuts off during Night Time. That sucks! What if I need a shower in the middle of the night?” Beni sighed. “Anyway, that’s all we have.”

“We’ll go next,” Noiz said quickly. “Clear, Usa and I walked around in some odd places. We found a gaming center and a club while we looked around.”

“Pi!” Usa raised his hand. “We explored some alleyways as well! I proposed the idea so we could check for an escape route!”

“We did find something in one of the alleyways,” Clear said. “We reached an area that was blocked by a shutter gate, but it seemed as though the space beyond it was just another alleyway. It was very strange.”

“That may be a possible escape route,” Ren replied, “but we probably shouldn’t make assumptions. Aoba, your group is last.”

“Ah, right. Well, Trip pointed out a building that turned out to be some sort of dining area. I think that’s where we can pick up food when we need to.”

“Oh thank god!” Mizuki sighed with relief. “I was wondering how on earth we were gonna eat. Where is it?” Virus pointed in the direction opposite the door we were standing in front of.

“If you walk that way for a few minutes, you should find it. The building has a sign above the door that says ‘DINING’ so it should not be too hard to find. None of us checked where it was relative to other places like, say, the lodging area, so you all should probably check that for yourselves.”

“Berta found a building with the door open,” Trip said while gesturing to Berta, “but all we found in there was a sports bar.”

“It was so booooriiiiing,” Berta drawled. “I was hoping for-” I turned and glared at Berta before he could say anything else. “Never mind. It’s not a good time to say it.”

“Going back to the dining area,” Hersha chimed in, “I think we should start meeting up there instead. There’s a large table in there that can seat all fourteen of us at once, and I think it would be better than standing by this old door here.”

“That’s the smartest thing that’s come outta your mouth all day, snake eyes,” Koujaku said. “But that’s not a bad idea. Maybe we could meet up there in the morning and talk about escape plans while we eat breakfast.”

“Pi! That sounds like an excellent idea!” Usa exclaimed. A few of us made noises in agreement.

“I support the idea as well,” Ren said approvingly. “Does anyone oppose this?” Ren quietly looked around for a few moments. No one seemed to disagree. “Then it’s settled. From now on, we’ll hold our meetings in this dining area each morning.” Just as Ren finished his sentence, we heard a chime go off and a projection appeared above the Oval Tower door. Toue was right in the middle of it, sitting in a chair with a wine glass in his hand.

“Attention, subjects. This is an announcement. It is now midnight. Night Time begins now. The door to the dining area will be locked in five minutes. No one is permitted to enter it after that time. Well then, I hope you all rest well.” And just as quickly as it came, the projection disappeared. It’s midnight already?

“It looks like our meeting ends here,” Ren said after a few seconds. “Let’s retire for the night. If we have anything else to discuss then we’ll do so in the morning. Remember to meet up at the dining area instead of here at this door.”

“Well then~” Clear said cheerily. “It’s time for everyone to get a good night’s sleep! Good night, everyone! Sweet dreams!” Clear spun around on his heel and practically skipped back to the lodging area. Shortly after, the rest of us followed suit and went back to our personal houses. I found that mine was the first house down the line. It had my name engraved onto a gold plaque right on the door. I walked up to it and found the screen Koujaku was talking about earlier. I held my Coil up to it and heard a few short beeps and a click. I turned the handle, opened the door and stepped inside.

\-----

I took a long, deep sigh when I closed the door behind me. I shrugged off my jacket and slipped off my shoes, placing them near the door. I dragged myself over to the staircase and climbed each step slowly and sluggishly. I walked past the living room and went over to open one of the bedroom doors. Once I shuffled over to the bed I flopped down face first onto the pillow. Today was crazy. I honestly have no idea how I ended up in this mess or why, but here I am. At any rate, I’m exhausted. Hopefully things will be better tomorrow. Maybe the whole murdering thing won’t even happen and Toue is just joking around. Maybe…

I turned around to lie on my back and stare at the ceiling. It wasn’t long before I felt my consciousness slipping, and soon enough I drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one of these guys might be in for it really soon... any guesses on who's gonna kick the bucket first?


	5. Ch. 1 Pt. 2: Tension

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone manages to find some order in their new plan to meet up at the diner, but things quickly take a turn for the worst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so so sorry i haven't updated this in a while! i've been pretty distracted and focused on school at the same time. either way, i managed to put some time together and finish up this part! just a note: i edited one small part of the last chapter so it could fit this chapter as well as the events coming up later in the story. it's a really small detail so don't worry too much about it. regardless, i hope you enjoy it!

_Today was crazy. I honestly have no idea how I ended up in this mess or why, but here I am. At any rate, I’m exhausted. Hopefully things will be better tomorrow. Maybe the whole murdering thing won’t even happen and Toue is just joking around. Maybe…_

_I turned around to lie on my back and stare at the ceiling. It wasn’t long before I felt my consciousness slipping, and soon enough I drifted off to sleep._

\-----

“Good morning, my subjects! It is now 8 in the morning. Time to wake up and start a brand new day!”

“Mm…” I woke up grumbling. What was that just now? It sounded like Toue. Well, whatever. I’m awake now so I should probably clean myself up and head out. I think everyone was supposed to meet at the dining hall today. I sat up, got up from my bed and walked out the room. I passed the living room and quickly stepped down the stairs.

Once I made it in front of the bathroom door I let out a yawn and stretched a little bit. I grabbed the door handle, twisted it and pushed at the door.

“…Huh?” That’s weird. The door’s not opening. I tried pushing it again…but it still won’t budge. “What the hell?” I’m pushing it harder now and it still won’t budge. Okay, this is getting irritating. I noticed a piece of paper hanging next to the door. I took the paper down and read it.

**This is your personal bathroom. If your room is one of the first seven rooms in the lodging area, then your bathroom door cannot be locked. Inversely, if your room is one of the remaining seven, then you can lock your bathroom door. The water in the bathroom will be shut off during Night Time.**

That…didn’t help at all. Wait, my room is the first one here! How come this door is locked?! Just as I thought that, I heard a few faint beeps and a click. That sounds like the lock to my door being unlocked. …Wait a minute−! Before I had time to react, the door creaked open. I stood in a defensive stance, ready to attack whoever was trying to come in here.

“Ah, good morning, Aoba-kun. Did you sleep well?” Toue stepped into the room with a gentle smile on his face.

“Toue?! What are you doing here? How did you get in here?”

“Relax. My Coil can unlock all the rooms here.” That doesn’t make it any less wrong! “Anyway, I came here to show you something. I figured you might have been struggling with your bathroom door.”

“Yeah, for some reason it’s locked.” I emphasized my point by turning the handle and trying to push the door open.

“It’s not locked,” Toue said simply.

“Then what do you call this?” Toue walked over to the door.

“I called it jammed, not locked. Here’s what you have to do.” Toue lightly waved my hand off the handle and grabbed it himself. “All you have to do is twist the handle and push the _top_ of the door, not the middle like you were just doing. Try it.” He stepped back and allowed me to do what he told me. I twisted the handle and pushed the top of the door…and sure enough, it opened with ease.

“So how come this door is stuck anyway?” Toue shrugged.

“I never found the time to get it fixed. That’s unfortunate, isn’t it? You’re supposed to be the lucky person in this experiment and yet here you are with a stuck door.” Okay, that kind of pisses me off. “Well, I’ll be off then. Hopefully this door won’t inconvenience you too much anymore.” And with that, Toue walked out the room and closed the door behind him. So my door is jammed. And here I was thinking that today would be better… I sighed loudly before stepping inside the bathroom.

\-----  
Once I got done freshening up I grabbed my jacket, slipped on my shoes and headed out the door. Let’s see… The dining hall was in the direction opposite the Oval Tower door we used to meet at. I started walking that way.

It took a few minutes but I managed to find it. I looked in the window and saw that there were already some people sitting at the huge table. I opened the door and stepped inside. I barely took two steps in before I was hit with a delightful aroma. I looked at the table and saw a huge display of different foods. Rice, miso soup, some vegetables, mackerel, fruit, toast, eggs…this is amazing! There’s tons of stuff here. I looked over and saw Koujaku, Beni and Mizuki sitting together, and Beni and Mizuki were eating like they hadn’t had a meal in days.

“Mm! G’morning, Aoba!” Mizuki said with a mouth full of food. I let out a laugh.

“Hey, don’t talk with your mouth full. If you’re not careful you might choke.” Mizuki smiled and swallowed what was in his mouth.

“Aww, Aoba, I didn’t know you cared so much! I’m so flattered~”

“Shut up!” Mizuki laughed and patted the seat next to him.

“C’mon, sit down. Gas Mask made a whole bunch of food for us today and it would be a waste if we didn’t eat it all.” Clear made all this?

“Not so fast, Mizuki,” Koujaku chimed in. “There’s still a bunch of people that haven’t showed up yet. They’re gonna be eating this too, you know.”

“To hell with them! I’m gonna eat as much of this as I can!” Mizuki took a big forkful of eggs and shoved it in his mouth to prove his point. Koujaku and I laughed. I sat down next to Mizuki and grabbed a few pieces of toast and an orange. We all chatted for a while, and one by one everyone else came in, grabbed breakfast and sat down. Within about fifteen minutes after I came in, everyone was situated and ready for the meeting. Ren cleared his throat and started to speak.

“Now that we’re all here, we can begin the discussion. So, what’s our next plan of action?”

“Well duh,” Beni said while slapping his hands down on the table, “we need to find a way outta here, don’t we?” Tori leaned forward to look over at Beni.

“And how do you suppose we’re going to do that? Are there any ideas in that hollow red head of yours?”

“Why you-!!”

“Now now,” I said nervously, holding my hands up, “we don’t have to start any arguments. Tori is right, though. Does anyone have any specific ways of escaping?”

“Maybe…” Berta purred. “Maybe we could do something about the entrance that the big muscular hunk over there oh so kindly found for us.” He tilted his head in Mink’s direction. Mink grimaced and turned to look out the window.

“We could consider that,” Clear agreed, “but didn’t Mink-san say there were guns near it?” Hersha smiled.

“If you tried going out that way, it’s curtains for you. I’m surprised Mink managed to escape that alive.”

“Pi!” Usa looked up excitedly. “Maybe we could somehow dismantle the guns so we can work on the door as much as we’d like!”

“Those guns have motion sensors,” Mink said flatly. “Any wrong moves and they can aim at you and kill you.”

“Then maybe we can disable them instead,” Noiz offered. “I could probably make my way into the system and disable the sensors on the guns.” He looked down at his Coil. “I’ll open up a few programs and− huh?”

“What is it?” Koujaku asked.

“I can’t find the programs I need.” He swiped at the holographic screen in front of him a few times and tried typing something in. “Even if I search for them, they won’t show up. It’s strange. I encrypted them well enough that no one could access them, but it looks like someone managed to get in and delete them.”

“That bastard Toue!!” Koujaku slammed his fist down on the table. “He’s trapping us in here like rats! How the hell is he managing to do all this anyway?!”

“I don’t know how he’s doing it,” Mizuki grumbled, “but this needs to stop. He’s making this way too unfair for us.” Koujaku sighed.

“Anyway, are there any other ways that we can escape?”

“Oh, I got it!” Beni exclaimed, eyes bright with confidence. “What if we climbed the biggest building in Platinum Jail, set up a zip line that attaches to the wall, climb up the wall, hop over it and land on the outside?”

“That would be an excellent idea!” Hersha said, putting on a fake smile. His expression quickly turned stern. “The only issues with that are one, we don’t have the equipment to climb anything; two, the walls are way too high for any of us to land safely; and three, Platinum Jail has a dome around it. The sky you’re seeing out there is a projection on the dome. There’s no way to get past it by climbing the walls.”

“Well what if we blew a hole in it? We just find some dynamite, stick it to the dome and then BOOM! Portal to the outside world! Then we can climb the walls and get out of here!”

“And what about the other two issues I just mentioned?”

“I…” Beni stopped and stared for a minute, trying really hard to think. “I’ll come up with something.”

“Like I’ve been saying,” Hersha sighed, fiddling with his Coil, “it’s pointless trying to get out of here. You all won’t survive if you don’t start changing the way you think about this situation.”

“You know, snake eyes,” Koujaku said tiredly, “you could at least _try_ to be a little optimistic.”

“It’s not that I’m being pessimistic: I’m just being reasonable. Toue set up all these different rules, and on top of those he deliberately made it so that it’s impossible for us to escape. If I were you, I would just live with what’s going on right now.” Koujaku opened his mouth to speak, but then he closed it again and turned away from Hersha. Looks like he doesn’t have any more fight in him, huh… Everyone else fell silent and looked down or in some random direction. Seconds passed and the atmosphere around us was pretty tense.

“Well then,” Ren finally said, “if there’s nothing else to say then we can end the discussion here.” A few of us nodded in agreement and went back to staring at nothing. This sucks. It seems like there’s no way out of this… I turned my head to Mizuki and tapped his arm, hoping to make some light of all this. Mizuki looked up and over at me.

“So, Mizuki, you wanna head over to that sports bar later today? There’s a lot of good stuff there!” I nudged him a little bit and smiled at him. Mizuki sighed.

“I dunno, Aoba. I don’t think alcohol would do much good in a place like this.”

“Oh come on! We haven’t gone out drinking in a while. We could always have another contest!” This time Mizuki cracked a smile.

“A contest? Did you forget how _bad_ you are at holding your liquor? You’d pass out after two drinks!”

“No way! I can totally beat you this time!” Mizuki and I laughed. We kept our conversation going, and eventually the tension around us went away. Soon enough everyone else was either engaged in some light chat or eating some more. Everything seems to be going okay…or so I thought.

“Attention, test subjects!” Just as everyone was at ease, the TV near the door switched on and showed a broadcast of Toue. “I hope your morning is going well. I have an important announcement for you all. In order to speed things up here, I have prepared a special surprise! The surprise will be located in the screening area right next to the dining hall. The door will be opened automatically. Please go there at your leisure. Until then, I hope you enjoy the rest of your day!” And just like that, the TV shut off. That doesn’t sound good…

“Dammit!” Koujaku hissed. “Just when we were getting comfortable…”

“Well then,” Virus spoke up, “what do you all say we finish our breakfast and go see what Toue has for us?”

“That’s right,” Trip chimed in. “This could be fun.” I have no idea what could possibly be fun about something Toue is giving us. At any rate, we all finished up our breakfast and left the dining hall. I looked left and saw an open door. That must be the screening area. I walked that way and everyone else followed behind me.

\-----

We walked into the building and looked around for a bit. There were a bunch of computers in rows and a large screen on the wall ahead of us. There was also a small cardboard box sitting on a table in the front of the room. Maybe that’s where the surprise is. I walked up to the box and looked inside. There were a bunch of disks with words on them.

“Hey, everyone, I think this is our surprise. There are disks in here and they have our names on them.” I moved some disks around and found one with my name on it. Everyone else walked over and looked for their disks as well. Once we found them, we walked over to a computer and sat down. I placed my disk in the drive and put on the headphones that were plugged in.

The computer screen showed some static for a few seconds…and a video of Granny started up. She was sitting on the couch in the living room. I broke out into a huge smile.

“Aoba, I hope you’re doing well. I trust that you’re taking good care of yourself while you’re in Platinum Jail. I’m still a bit worried about these tests Toue planned for you, but I’m sure you can fend for yourself if you need to. Please be safe, and I’ll see you soon.” Granny smiled, but my own smile faded. If only she knew I wouldn’t be coming back. She must be so worried… Just then, the video was full of static and switched to a different image. The living room was a mess, and the couch was scratched and split in half. Granny wasn’t there anymore. My heart stopped. What happened to Granny?! Toue’s voice came up on the video.

“The Seragaki household…such a peaceful place full of love and happiness, but what happened to that warm, lively house? What happened to the lovely grandmother that lived here?” The words “FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED AFTER ‘JAILBREAK’” appeared in red letters on the screen. I ripped the headphones off of my ears. My hands violently shook and my heart was beating like crazy. What happened? _How_ did it happen? Jailbreak…that’s right. I need to get out of here. I need to find Granny. I need to−

Suddenly, I felt a hand on top of mine. I whipped my head and looked next to me, my nerves still shaken up. I eased up when I saw that it was Ren sitting there and looking at me with worry on his face.

“Aoba… I’m not sure if we looked at the same video, but we should try to remain calm. I’d like to think that this is a trick set up by Toue, but I can’t say for sure.” He squeezed at my hand a little bit. “Regardless, we need to stay calm and try our best not to give in.” I frowned, but eventually I nodded.

“You’re right. We need to be strong and try not to let Toue get in our heads.” I gave Ren a small smile. “Thanks, as always.” Ren returned my smile and laughed a bit.

“The pleasure is mine.”

“Huh, what a scary video.” Trip was in the row in front of us speaking. He took off his headphones and sighed. Looks like he just finished his video. “Well it’s nothing to be worried about. Isn’t that right, Virus?” Virus didn’t answer him. “Virus?” It kind of looks like Virus is shaking. “Virus, are you oka−ˮ

“I can’t deal with this.” Virus yanked off his headphones. “I can’t deal with this! I’m getting out of here!” He stood up and quickly walked out of the room.

“Wait, Virus!” Trip got up and followed Virus. That’s weird…usually Virus is so calm and collected. He didn’t sound like himself just then. Maybe I should go check on him. I stood up and left the screening area. When I got to the doorway, I looked to my right and saw Trip holding on to Virus’s arm.

“Virus, what’s gotten into you? You never act like this!”

“That video! That video is what’s gotten into me! You saw yours, didn’t you?!”

“Virus, get a hold of yourself! You’re seriously gonna believe that thing?”

“Let go of me! That could definitely be true! You don’t know if it isn’t! There’s nothing interesting in here and you know that! I don’t care what you say… I’m finding a way out of here!” Virus yanked his arm from Trip’s grasp and hurried away. Trip just stared off at him, not bothering to chase after him again. This is bad… If Toue managed to get to Virus, then there’s no way this can end well.


	6. Ch. 1 Pt. 3: Distress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virus appears to have snapped under the pressure! With one of the calmest people there in a frenzy, will the shaky foundations of living a peaceful life in Platinum Jail collapse?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so so sorry for the delay! i've been working on a huge research paper for school recently but it's all done now! i hope you enjoy this chapter!

_When I got to the doorway, I looked to my right and saw Trip holding on to Virus’s arm._

_“Virus, what’s gotten into you? You never act like this!”_

_“That video! That video is what’s gotten into me! You saw yours, didn’t you?!”_

_“Virus, get a hold of yourself! You’re seriously gonna believe that thing?”_

_“Let go of me! That could definitely be true! You don’t know if it isn’t! There’s nothing interesting in here and you know that! I don’t care what you say… I’m finding a way out of here!” Virus yanked his arm from Trip’s grasp and hurried away. Trip just stared off at him, not bothering to chase after him again. This is bad… If Toue managed to get to Virus, then there’s no way this can end well._

\-----

I don’t know what came over me, but before I could even think about, I started running after Virus. I’m sure he heard me since he started moving a little faster, but I didn’t care. After a couple seconds, I caught up to him and grabbed his arm. Virus whipped his head to look at me with a furious look on his face.

“You too?! Look, I told Trip already that I’m getting out of here and I’m not changing that for anybody!”

“Virus, calm down and listen for a second,” I replied evenly. “If you try to get out of here without thinking you could probably end up seriously hurt or dead.”

“I would rather be dead than spend another day in here! Nothing in here has the thrill of what I used to do on the outside! You expect me to pretend like everything is going to work out?!”

“What’s the matter with you? You’re usually really calm in situations like this.”

“What’s the matter with me? I’ll tell you what’s the matter with me! The one thing that brought me entertainment is gone and now I’m locked up in here with absolutely nothing! What do you want me to do about this, Aoba?! Huh?!”

“I want you to calm down! This is the kind of reaction Toue wants out of you, isn’t it? You have the option to go out and seek something that’ll entertain you instead of staying in your little black and white world! I would suggest cleaning those glasses of yours so you can see that your life isn’t over here!” Virus’s eyes changed from fiery to heartbroken in a matter of seconds. He swayed a bit before dropping down to his knees. I finally let go of his arm and watched as he hung his head down. I heard a hitch in his breath that turned into shakier breathing.

“What do I do? What do I do? I don’t know where to go from here…” I took a step forward and kneeled down next to Virus.

“I don’t know if there’s any one thing that can be done, but I’m sure you can figure something out. You’re a pretty smart guy.” He let out a sniffle and held his head back up.

“I suppose so. I don’t really want to die here, though. That’s bothering me as well.”

“You don’t have to die here. We can find a way out of here and go back to Midorijima alive.”

“I’m kind of concerned about everyone else. Someone could be plotting to kill me at this very moment and I wouldn’t be aware of it.” I can’t argue with that… This place is really dangerous. I thought to myself for a moment before I spoke up again.

“Well if you’re worried about that, maybe you can find some way to protect yourself. I’m sure there’s something around here that’ll help.”

“That’s true.” Virus stood up and brushed some gravel off his pants. He looked down to me and held out a hand. “Well then, Aoba-san, would you care to join me in looking for some protection tools?” I smiled and grabbed his hand, standing up myself.

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Virus grinned back before walking off in some random direction. I followed right behind him.

\-----

As we walked, Virus had his hand on his chin, eyeing his surroundings carefully. We ended up walking for about ten minutes before Virus suddenly stopped. I almost bumped into him but I managed to catch myself. He turned his head in some odd direction.

“This way.” He started walking again and I followed next to him this time. After walking for a few more minutes, we ended up back in the dining hall. I wondered what could possibly be in here, but Virus walked over to the door leading to the back room. He opened the door and went straight to the knife rack over on the wall to the right, picking one of the larger ones.

“A knife?”

“It isn’t much, but I can defend myself with this. Most people are scared off by knives, and if not, then I can give them a small cut to distract them and get away. I don’t plan to have a major fight with it.”

“That makes sense.” A simple tool for quick defense… I think that’ll work just fine. “Hopefully you won’t have to use it.”

“I feel the same way. Well, I think this will be enough.” He opened up his suit jacket and placed the knife in one of the pockets before closing it back up. “Come. There’s still plenty of time in the day. We can find some things to do until Night Time.” I nodded and followed Virus out of the kitchen.

\-----

Surprisingly enough, there were quite a few things to do within our limited space. When Virus and I walked around, we found some shops and other small eateries that allowed us to serve ourselves. Apparently we don’t have to pay for what’s here since we’re the only ones here and everything gets restocked during Night Time. I went to the gaming center that Noiz mentioned yesterday and stayed there for a couple hours. Afterward, Virus and I happened to meet up with Trip and Berta and we all had lunch together. Later on in the day we all went down to the sports bar to watch a few games and drink a little.

Eventually, night rolled around. I checked my Coil and it read ‛11:05’. Night Time is in less than an hour. I had all my fun already, so I said good night to Virus, Trip and Berta and walked back to the lodging area. I walked up to the door to my room and held my Coil up to lock screen. When the door unlocked, I went inside, kicked my shoes off and went directly upstairs. I leaped right onto my bed and got comfortable. Today was much better. I think that finding things to do helped ease my stress a little bit. I really hope that video wasn’t true… Granny was the last thing that crossed my mind before I drifted off into sleep.

….. ….. …..

_Ding-dong ding-dong_

I woke up from my light slumber to hear something ringing. Is that... my doorbell? I didn’t know I had one. I sat up groggily and walked out of my bedroom. As I walked down the stairs the doorbell rang a couple more times.

“Coming,” I said with a bit of a yawn. I looked at my Coil. It’s only 11:40. I didn’t sleep for too long. Who would want to visit me this late? I got to the front door and opened it, only to have my eyes widen at who was here. “Virus?”

“Sorry to disturb you. I know you went to bed and all but I trust you the most right now. Something happened a few minutes ago.”

“What happened? Are you hurt?”

“No, I’m fine. I returned to my room about ten minutes ago and decided to sit down for a moment before moving upstairs. After about a minute or two I heard my doorknob rattling as if someone was trying to force it open. I sat frozen in my spot until the rattling eventually stopped. I waited for about a minute before checking outside, and I saw that nobody was there. That’s why I’m here right now.” Are you serious? That sounds awful!

“Did you want to share my room? You can stay here if you’d like.”

“Actually, I was hoping we could switch rooms for the night. You have better fighting skills than I do, so in case that person comes back, you can rough them up a little bit and then report who did it.” Fighting off the guy who bothered Virus? That sounds really dangerous since I don’t know who it is, but…

“I’ll do it.” Virus smiled at me.

“Thank you very much, Aoba-san.” He undid the strap on his Coil and handed it to me. “Here. You’ll need this to get into my room.” I did the same, and we switched Coils. “My room is five houses down from here.” I nodded, walking out of the room as Virus entered.

“Be sure not to open the door for anyone tonight,” I warned. “I don’t want you getting hurt.” Virus grinned and held up a hand.

“You have my word.” I smiled, wishing him a good night and going on my way.

As I walked, I couldn’t help but think of the possibility that whoever was at Virus’s door earlier could come back. I shuddered at the thought and picked up my pace so I could get to safety a little quicker. Like Virus said, his house was only five houses apart from mine, so it didn’t take long to get there. I walked up to the door and held up Virus’s coil to the screen. I heard a few short beeps and a click, and the door was unlocked. I turned the doorknob and stepped inside. 

It looked the same as my room except for a couple small items scattered on the table up front. I strolled over to the staircase and went upstairs. Nothing looks too out of the ordinary here… I opened one of the bedroom doors, admiring how neat and organized everything looked. I stepped over to the bed and lay down on it. I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling. I thought having some fun could make things a little less stressful here, but I guess not everyone is here to have a good time. Well, hopefully I’ll be able to defend myself well enough while I’m here. I sighed and closed my eyes, letting sleep slowly wash over my senses.

\-----

“Good morning, my subjects! It is now 8 in the morning. Time to wake up and start a brand new day!”

The morning announcement came on and my eyes slowly opened. I let out a small groan and sat up, yawning and rubbing at my eyes. Another day, huh… I got off the bed and went downstairs to take a quick shower. When I opened the bathroom door I saw a few soaps and other things I wasn’t familiar with having in my bathroom. Oh right… I’m in Virus’s room right now, aren’t I? Well hopefully he doesn’t have a problem with me borrowing a bit of his soap. I stepped in the bathroom and closed the door.

\-----

I stretched my arms up high over my head, trying to get all the tiredness out of me as I walked to the dining area. I feel a bit more refreshed today. Maybe it was because I went to bed a little earlier last night. I should do that more often if I can. It’s calming me down considerably. I walked up to the dining area and went inside.

Noiz was already sitting at the large table, quietly eating a piece of lightly buttered toast. I chuckled and sat down next to him.

“Come on now, you should probably eat a little more than that.” Noiz glanced over at me for a second before looking away again.

“I will at some point. I just don’t have a lot of front of me right now so I can eat a little slower.” I smiled and gave him a pat on the shoulder. He glared at me before he continued munching away at his toast. How cute. Clear walked in from the back and set some vegetables on the table.

“Good morning, Aoba-san! I hope you slept well! Please help yourself to what’s here~”

“Ah, thanks, Clear. Good morning to you too. I slept pretty well last night.” Clear clapped his hands a couple times.

“That’s great to hear! I hope you enjoy your meal!” He spun around and went back into the kitchen. As Clear left, Mink and Usa entered the dining area. Usa came and sat down on the other side of Noiz while Mink sat on the far end of the table. After a few minutes, Ren came in and took a seat. Tori came in next, followed by Koujaku and Beni, then Trip and Berta, then Hersha. Mizuki finally came in about ten minutes later and sat down next to Beni. Noiz looked up at him and furrowed his eyebrows.

“Your clothes are wet.” Mizuki looked down at his clothes, letting out a laugh.

“Oh yeah, these. I got water all over them while I was in the bathroom today.” Noiz let out a hum of acknowledgement and went back to focusing on his breakfast. After another minute, Ren cleared his throat, and everyone turned to face him.

“So,” Ren started, “is everyone here? I think it’s about time we start the meeting.”

“Hold on,” Hersha said. “Virus isn’t here.”

“That’s strange. Usually he comes to places fairly early. I wonder if something’s holding him up.”

“Maybe he’s oversleeping,” Tori suggested.

“Or maybe he just didn’t wanna show up because he thought he was too good for this!” Beni shouted. “That bastard… I’m sure he’s plotting to kill somebody right now!” Hold on… this isn’t right. Maybe he… oh no. I shot out of my chair and ran out the door. “Wait, Aoba! Where are you going?!”

I kept running down the street and I didn’t slow down until I got to the front door of my room. The door is slightly open. Oh no… no no no… I opened the door the rest of the way and looked inside. The room was a complete mess. The table was flipped over, the couch’s cushions were out of place, and there were scratches all over the wall. It looked like some natural disaster came through here, but that’s not possible. I stepped inside and was hit with some sort of strong scent. It smelled pretty familiar… alcohol, maybe? That doesn’t matter right now. What happened in here? I noticed the bathroom door was ajar and my focus was immediately directed to that. I slowly walked over to the door and shakily held a hand up. I pushed the door open… and I was met with a horrifying sight.

Blood was splattered on the wall. There was so much of it. The room reeked of iron. And in the middle of it all… was Virus. He was sitting against the blood splattered wall, body limp and pale. He was…

Before I could even think, a shriek tore through my throat. I screamed until my chest hurt, and when I needed to breathe in again, my vision suddenly went black. The last thing I could remember was hitting the floor with a loud _thud_ before my consciousness completely left me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one character down! any guesses on who did it?


	7. Ch. 1 Pt. 4: More Rules

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A murder has recently taken place, but this isn't the end of everyone's troubles. More fuel will be added to the hellfire that is living in Platinum Jail.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi everyone! thanks for tuning in once again! really sorry about how slowly the updates are coming along. i strive to update this fic at least once a month, but hopefully some time in the future updates will come a little quicker. this month will be fairly hectic for me so you may have to wait a little while. at any rate, please enjoy what i have for you now!

_I noticed the bathroom door was ajar and my focus was immediately directed to that. I slowly walked over to the door and shakily held a hand up. I pushed the door open… and I was met with a horrifying sight._

_Blood was splattered on the wall. There was so much of it. The room reeked of iron. And in the middle of it all… was Virus. He was sitting against the blood splattered wall, body limp and pale. He was…_

_Before I could even think, a shriek tore through my throat. I screamed until my chest hurt, and when I needed to breathe in again, my vision suddenly went black. The last thing I could remember was hitting the floor with a loud_ thud _before my consciousness completely left me._

\-----

I slowly opened my eyes, blinking several times to get the world around me into focus. Where am I…? I was too disoriented to piece things together very well.

“Ah, he’s awake! Aoba-san is awake!” An excited voice sounded right above me. A gas mask immediately blocked my field of vision.

“Clear…?” Clear breathed a sigh. I couldn’t tell because of the mask over his face, but he seems relieved.

“I’m so glad you’re awake, Aoba-san. I was getting worried.”

“Worried? I’m fine, I think.” I sat up and rubbed at my face with my hands to wake myself up a little more. “More importantly…” I finally looked around to check my surroundings. “Why am I back in the dining hall? And on the floor, no less…” It looks like everyone else is in here too.

“Clear brought you here,” Koujaku answered. “He freaked out and ran off, said he heard you screaming. Ren ran after him just in case you were in trouble.” Screaming? Wait… shit. I frantically scanned the room to make sure I didn’t just imagine it.

“Wait a minute, Virus is here, right?! He isn’t−ˮ

“Your eyes didn’t deceive you, Aoba,” Tori interrupted, “nor did you just dream it. Virus is dead.” My breath caught in my throat. No… this can’t be happening! “We aren’t too sure how this happened.”

“What a shame,” Hersha sighed. “Too bad he had to go like this.” He smirked and shrugged. “Well, it can’t be helped.”

“Y’know, snake eyes,” Koujaku retorted, “I would think you’d be a little more upset that your owner just got killed.”

“It happens. People die. It’s just a way of life. Plus, it’s not like we were particularly close. I served him and that was that.”

“You aren’t right in the head, you know that?” Before their bickering could continue, Tori cleared his throat.

“If I may continue explaining the situation to Aoba…” Tori turned to face me. “Toue told us to meet him at the doors of Oval Tower that we came to on the first day. Apparently something important is about to happen.”

“Can’t he just give us a break?” Beni whined. “It’s bad enough that someone just got murdered, and now he wants something else?”

“We don’t have much of a choice but to comply.” Tori started moving toward the door. “Come. Everyone’s ready so we should get going. We’ll appease Toue for now.” And with that, he walked out. He’s got a point… Slowly, the rest of us followed suit and left the dining hall.

\-----

As our destination came into view, we saw that Toue was standing there with a smile on his face. Something tells me this isn’t gonna be good for us.

“Good day, my subjects! I hope you’re all faring well on this fine day.”

“Cut the crap, Toue!” Koujaku barked. “Just tell us what we’re here for!”

“My my, feisty today, aren’t we? Very well. I suppose I shouldn’t keep you all waiting much longer.

“Let me explain why I called you here. As you all know, one of your fellow test subjects has been murdered. I’ll make it clear right now that it was not my doing; in fact, the murder was carried out by one of you.” One of us? He’s joking… “Now, since a murder has taken place here, a special rule has been added. You all are responsible for investigating Virus’s murder!” Huh?!

“I-Investigate?” Beni stammered. “As in… we gotta figure out who killed him?”

“Precisely! You catch on well!”

“B-B-But… none of us are professionals in that! And don’t you have cameras everywhere? Can’t you just tell us who did it and punish them or something?” Toue chuckled.

“Well, the person responsible _may_ be punished, but that depends on you all. And yes, I do have cameras everywhere, so _I_ know who did it. Letting you all know so easily isn’t much fun, you see; plus, it detracts from the purpose of this whole experiment. Now if I may continue…

“After you all complete a thorough investigation of the scene, I will call you all back to the tower so we can hold a trial! During that trial, you will take all the evidence you collected in your investigation and use it to figure out who the murderer is!”

“Like I said,” Beni yelled, “none of us are professionals in this sort of thing!”

“True,” Toue replied, “but I chose very exceptional people to be in this test. I’m sure you’re all capable of handling something as trivial as a trial.”

“Trivial, huh?” A voice rumbled. I turned to see Berta striding up to the front of us. “You think we’d agree to somethin’ like this? Investigations and trials and shit? You think we wanna do that?”

“I’m not asking whether or not you agree to do it. I’m _telling_ you that that’s what you need to do.” Berta scoffed and cracked his knuckles.

“Well _I’m_ tellin’ _you_ that I’m not doin’ this. It’s bad enough you locked us in here, but I’m not lettin’ you play around with me like a circus monkey.” Berta stomped toward Toue. Toue simply grinned at he got closer.

“Wait, Berta!” Trip called out. “What are you doing?”

“Doin’ what I shoulda did first time we were here.” When Berta got close enough, he grabbed Toue by the collar and lifted him slightly off the ground. He balled his free hand into a fist, but Toue’s grin didn’t waver. “Any last words before I beat the livin’ daylights outta you?”

“Just a few. Spears of Leiden, please save me from this brute.”

“Huh?” Before he could process Toue’s words any further, a multitude of iron spears suddenly shot up from the ground and impaled Berta. Berta’s grip on Toue loosened, and Toue landed gracefully. Blood trickled from Berta’s mouth and his breathing was ragged. I watched in horror as he remained suspended in the air.

“H…Huh…? I don’t….under…..stand….. Why…..? Why….was I…..” The spears slid back into the ground just as quickly as they had appeared, taking the last bit of life right out of Berta. He fell to the ground in a crumpled, bloody heap. Everything around me was a blur. I think I heard Beni moan and fall to the ground. I may have heard Trip screaming out Berta’s name along with a few other various screams. I might have screamed too. I’m not sure. My focus is more on the fact that I just witnessed a murder happen right in front of me.

Toue brushed off the collar of his dress shirt and cleared his throat.

“I’m very sorry you all had to see that. Berta here wasn’t following the rules. He intended to bring harm to me, and as a result he had to be punished. He won’t receive a trial since his death was the result of a rule violation.”

“That’s cruel!” I shouted without thinking.

“A lot of things are cruel, dear Aoba-kun, but they can’t be helped. Anyway, as I was saying before, you all have to conduct an investigation on Virus’s death and then participate in a trial to figure out who the murderer is. I’ll have more rules in place once we get to the actual trial. Until then, you have time to start investigating. The information you need is in your Coil. That’s all for now. Well then, I’ll see you all at the trial.” Toue turned and walked back to the tower doors. The doors slid open, he stepped inside, and they slammed shut again.

I finally had it in me to look around and behind me. Beni had fainted, and Ren and Koujaku were kneeling by his side trying to wake him up. Trip was on his knees staring at Berta’s corpse with his eyes wide and mouth agape. Usa was clinging tightly to Noiz and shaking, and everyone else was standing motionless and disturbed. I can’t believe this. Why did this have to happen to us…to me?

Nobody really had it in them to move for a while. The shock was too much for a lot of us to handle. After about five minutes or so, I turned around and dragged my feet to go back to the lodging area.

“Then…I’m going now.” A few people turned as I walked past.

“Hold on.” A voice smoothly called out to me. I stopped, but I didn’t have the energy to turn my head. I could tell the voice was Noiz’s, though. “Toue said the info was in our Coils, and it says here that the murder took place in your room.” I jumped at those words and whipped my head around. Suddenly everyone’s eyes were on me.

“W-Wait a second, you guys don’t seriously think I was the one that murdered Virus, do you?” My eyes quickly scanned around. It…looks like they do. “No no no no, you’ve got it all wrong! I wasn’t even in my room last night! I wouldn’t kill anybody! You guys believe me, right? …Right?” My shoulders drooped and my eyes widened. I can’t believe this.

Noiz put an arm around Usa and started walking back to the lodging area. His grip on Usa tightened when they walked past me.

“Shame on you, Aoba,” Hersha chided. “Well, it looks like the investigation and trial will be much easier considering we know who the murderer is.” He followed behind Noiz and Usa.

“Like I said, I didn’t do it! Come on, guys! You have to believe me!” The others started walking away as well. I received dirty looks from Mink and Tori, Clear and Trip walked by with their heads hanging downward, Koujaku and Mizuki gave me wary looks, and Beni hurried past me. This isn’t right… Why won’t they believe me? Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I flinched and looked to my side.

“I believe you.” Ren smiled sadly at me. “You’re a good person, Aoba. I know you wouldn’t do something like that. If no one else is on your side during this trial, then I’ll defend you. I’ll do my best to gather information and testify for you.” I smiled back at Ren.

“Thanks. I’m counting on you, Ren.”

“I’ll do what I can.” And with that, Ren walked off as well. I’m glad I have Ren on my side now but…this is all messed up. Everyone else is against me now. I really need to make them realize I’m innocent. I guess the only way to do that is to prove myself through evidence from the investigation. I need to get going. I started walking back toward the lodging area again to make a stop at the crime scene: my room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> investigation will start next chapter, then the trial will be split up into parts! hope to see you then!

**Author's Note:**

> the fun is about to begin really soon!


End file.
